Dogs teach us a lot of things but none more important than to love unconditionally…

I don’t judge others. I don’t hate. I don’t discriminate. I don’t care about money. I don’t hold grudges. I DO know how to love unconditionally and that’s all I want in return. I’m a fur-ever friend.

From time to time people tell me, “Lighten up, it’s just a dog,” or, “That’s a lot of money for just a dog.” They don’t understand the distance traveled, time spent, or costs involved for “Just a dog.” Some of my proudest moments have come about with “Just a dog.” Many hours have passed with my only company being “Just a dog,” and not once have I felt slighted. Some of my saddest moments were brought about by “Just a dog.” In those days of darkness, the gentle touch of “Just a dog” provided comfort and purpose to overcome the day.

If you, too, think its “Just a dog,” you will probably understand phrases like “Just a friend,” “Just a sunrise,” or “Just a promise.” “Just a dog” brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. “Just a dog” brings out the compassion and patience that makes me a better person.
Because of “Just a dog” I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future.

For me and folks like me, it’s not “Just a dog.” It’s an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment. “Just a dog,” brings out what’s good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day.

I hope that someday people can understand it’s not “Just a dog.” It’s the thing the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being “Just a man or woman.”

So the next time you hear the phrase “Just a dog,” smile, because they “Just don’t understand.”

Dogs are minor angels, and I don’t mean that facetiously. They love unconditionally, forgive immediately, are the truest of friends, willing to do anything that makes us happy. If we attributed some of those qualities to a person we would say they are special. If they had ALL of them, we would call them angelic. But because it’s “only” a dog, we dismiss them as sweet or funny but little more. However when you think about it, what are the things that we most like in another human being? Many times those qualities are seen in our dogs every single day—we’re just so used to them we pay no attention.

take my money
and take my job
take my car
and take my home

but leave me my dog
for without the love
of that precious soul
I’d be truly alone…

When God had made the earth and sky, The flowers and trees,
He then made all the animals, The fish, the birds and the bees
And when at last He’d finished, Not one was quite the same,
He said, “I’ll walk this world of mine, And give each one a name.”
And so He traveled far and wide And everywhere He went,
A little creature followed Him Until its strength was spent
When all were named upon the earth And the sky and sea,
The little creature said, “Dear Lord, There’s not one left for me.”
Kindly the Father said to him, “I’ve left you to the end
I’ve turned my own name back to front And called you DOG, my friend.”

The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog… He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come encounter with the roughness of the world…
When all other friends desert, he remains.

When you feel like every person in the world has deserted you,
You are not alone…
…your dog is still there for you.

The greatest fear dogs know
Is the fear that you may not come back
When you go out the door without them.

I am a dog advocate
because as a child,
I looked into a dog’s eyes,
And saw a soul as real as mine…

I went out to rescue a dog that day to give him a really good life
To take him away from the life that he led and free him from trouble and strife

I thought I would do him a favor and be a good person to him
And go do my bit for the country I didn’t go out on a whim

But what do you think really did happen? The day that I did my good deed,
I discovered a love that I’d dreamed of and fulfilled in myself a strong need.

I now have a dog that I care for, I see things that I needed to see,
That lovely dog that I rescued really ended up rescuing me.